Arkansas Tech University (ATU) will receive $7.5 million in funding from College Savings Bonds funds if a proposal from Gov. Mike Huckabee is approved by voters.

Act 1282 of 2005 from Huckabee's legislative inititative authorized referring to voters a request for the Arkansas Development Finance Authority to issue up to $250 million in college savings bonds for the improvement of technology and facilities in higher education.

If approved by voters, about $100 million will be used to refund/recall existing bonds, while the remaining funds will be allocated to public colleges and universitites in the state.

Friday, the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Bord approved the distribution of $150 million in funds. According to a press release from the Department of Higher Education, factors in the allocation of funds were enrollment, space needs and the institutions' current utilization of its debt service capacity.

Huckabee had requested that bond proceeds be divided by distributing $50 million, or one-third of the proceeds, among two-year colleges. He further requested the first $10 million of the remaining $100 million be allocated for E-Corridor connection for the 10 universities and medical sciences campus. E-Corridor is a high capacity fiber optic research computer network.

Of the $7.5 million allocated to Arkansas Tech, $792,900 would be used for the e-Corridor start-up, while $133,208 would be used for E-Corridor contingencies, leaving more than $6.5 million available for projects.

Dr. Robert C. Brown, Tech president, said during the Tech Board of Trustees' July meeting that the College Savings Bond initiative was "good news" for the university.

"This will mean a lot," Brown said. "And it won't cost the voters anything because it's not a tax increase."

Brown said besides the funds allocated to Arkansas Tech, the university's Ozark campus would receive about $574,000.

"After this is approved, we will come back to [the board] with some proposals for spending the funds," Brown told trustees.

An election date has not been set for the College Savings Bond to be considered by voters. The Department of Higher Education is working with Huckabee to determine a proposed election date.